The Suspension Day One
by grissara
Summary: My little story on how Sara and Grissom might begin to connect again. I'm not sure how to do this but you all should know that I'm not affiliated with CSI or CBS but this story is straight out of my own imagination.
1. default

The Suspension – Day One

The annoying beep-beep-beep of the alarm clock woke Sara out of a restless nights sleep. "Damn" she groaned as she saw the bright green numbers shining in the darkened bedroom. 'What a dumb idea' she thought as she rolled over to shut off the alarm. Sitting up on the side of the bed Sara had two things on her mind: the overwhelming sadness about the events of the day before… and movement. If she sat there too long Sara knew she would lay back down, possibly not getting out of bed for the entire week, but that wasn't what she wanted. If that happened then Ecklie wins, Catherine wins, her past wins. Grumbling all the way to the bathroom Sara wanted to begin her first full day of suspension with a positive beginning— but this just seemed much too early for her.

Grissom rounded the corner heading to his office. He had spoken to Greg about his court date and was feeling pretty confident about Greg going solo on any case, if he needed him to, while Sara was on suspension. Once he reached his office he read over the letter that would be delivered to Sara later on this morning. One week suspension, without pay as Ecklie had originally told Sara, no additional stipulations or sidebars. He put the letter in the envelope so that it could be delivered by courier.

He sat in his office thinking about the events of yesterday. It had taken a lot for Sara to open up to him about her traumatic childhood and Grissom understood the significance of it. They had not shared any personal feelings with each other in a long time and Grissom knew that it was him who had caused the tear in their friendship. He had been working on getting back the closeness that they once shared. But yesterday was a total awakening for him, he had experienced a fear he never acknowledged before—the fear of losing Sara. Grissom could feel a shift happening within his psyche and this time he wasn't going to fight it. He looked at his watch to see that he had about an hour left to work and wondered if it was too early to call Sara and see if she was up to having company for breakfast.

Sara leaned against the patio window looking out at the morning sky. Sipping on a hot cup of coffee, for a quick jumpstart, Sara's mind wandered back to Grissom reaching out to her the day before. She didn't know what to do about this thing with him now. Before her sessions with the police employee assistance program she thought that she knew what those feelings were. But now she understood that there was so much more to take into consideration, her past and how it affects her choices in men; and whether true love was ever going to be in her future.

After she took a big gulp of coffee, Sara put on her hooded jacket and headed out into the early Las Vegas morning. She had on her black leotards and gray cut off tee shirt. And her hair was pulled back in a ponytail that flipped up to keep it off her neck. She stopped outside, stretching her long legs on the steps of her apartment building while inside her apartment, the phone rang. The answering machine clicked on, Grissom's voice echoed in her empty apartment as he called out her name a couple of times and then said something about not wanting to wake her up and trying again later.

Nick Stokes flipped open his cell phone as he turned over in bed. "Stokes speaking," he said.

"Hey man," said Warrick Brown on the other end of the line, "how 'bout we go over and see what's happening with Sara before we head over to the courthouse this morning?"

Nick smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I've been thinking about going over to her place and since we don't get to work together anymore let's just let Sara know we're still here for her."

TBC


	2. Day One continued

This fan fiction writing is taking a little longer than I thought it would. I'm still working on the first day. I hope you'll keep reading though and I promise to get these chapters up sooner. That is if you like them.

The Suspension

Day One _continued_

Greg had already put in an hour of overtime and he still wasn't getting anywhere. He went from the slides in the microscope, to the slides on the computer and 5 pages of notes but nothing was connecting. No help would be coming from Grissom or Sophia because both had left when the shift was over. He only knew 2 people on the morning shift and frankly he wasn't sure how to approach them for help. Okay, he really only wanted Sara's help. He was worried about barging in on her but Greg knew she would probably jump at the chance to get to work on a case this week, even if she weren't going to get paid. It didn't take him long to pack up the evidence.

While over at Sara's place…

Having tried to call her from the grocery store and still getting only the answering machine Grissom ran inside the store and picked up some fresh fruit and a box of pancake mix. Grissom spotted Sara's car in the parking lot and pulled into an open spot next to it. He walked up the two flights of stairs and down the hall to her apartment door. After knocking a few times and getting no answer Grissom put his ear against the door to see if he could hear sound or movement coming from inside. With a concerned look on his face sat the bag of groceries down, pulled out his cell phone and speed dialed her number again and once again the machine clicked on. Thinking Sara might have a key stashed away he swept his hand across the top of the door frame but found nothing.

"What are you looking for?" Sara, who had finished her morning run and was now standing at the top of the stairs, breathlessly asked. "You can't possibly think I have an extra key up there," she said as she came closer to Grissom, wiping the sweat from her face and breathing in deeply.

"I was…" his voice trailed off, his eyes were distracted by her glistening skin and a glimpse of her partially soaked tee shirt when Sara reached inside her jacket pocket.

"Concerned?" asked Sara as she pulled out her key and unlocked the door.

"Worried," said Grissom. He picked up the bag and followed Sara into the apartment. "That's probably me," he said pointing to the answering machines blinking light, "I called your cell too, but it's not turned on. I just wanted to see if you were up to having company for breakfast. When I couldn't get through to you, I was… worried."

Sara looked up into his sparkling blue eyes, and then quickly looked away. "You don't have to worry about me Grissom. I really am alright, or at least I will be." Sara took the bag from Grissom and sat it down on the table. She reached inside, pulled out a strawberry and bit into it. "Mmm… breakfast sounds, nice." Sara smiled, "Well, while you're fixing… whatever it is we're having for breakfast, I'm going to go take a shower."

As Sara removed her jacket and put it on the back of the chair, the sweet aroma from her sweat drifted up into Grissom's nostrils. His lips parted as he started to say something but once again he became distracted, Sara's tee shirt was clinging to the shape of her breast. And with every breath she took her breast seemed to be signaling him, or so Grissom's mind was telling him. Sara reached up to remove the scrunchie from her hair as she turned and headed toward the back of the apartment. Grissom eyes were glued to her as she walked away. So many things were going through his mind, not the least of which was that yes he was changing, and yet still he wondered if being here, at this time, was appropriate.

Grissom spread the contents of the bag on the counter and began preparing his special recipe for strawberry crepes. He could hear Sara singing some tune that he had never heard before and he thought what a lovely voice that she had and how lucky he was to be able to hear it. It had been over a year since his operation and his visits to the doctor had been nothing but good news. He wondered how much Sara had heard about his hearing loss. Grissom searched the cupboards and cabinet drawers for the plates and silverware to set the table with; when he found the frying pan Grissom could tell it had hardly been used. He found a carton of orange juice in the fridge but there wasn't going to be enough for both of them so he grabbed two bottles of Aquafina and poured two cups of coffee.

Sara came from her bedroom wearing a tan tank top and one of those flowered sarong skirts. She was still drying her hair with a towel when she walked toward the small kitchen area, stopping when she saw Grissom pouring coffee into the cups that he had set on the table. She had forgotten how sweet he could be.

"I didn't know you could cook," she said with a smile. "What's cooking?"

"Crepes, with fresh strawberries," Grissom proudly said. "I make it with my secret ingredient, five tablespoons of whole wheat flour added to the pancake mix."

"You have a secret ingredient!" Sara chuckled and then she regretted saying, "Grissom, you need a wife."

"Well, I guess you won't be applying for that job since your cookware doesn't look like it's been used very often!"

Laughs and chuckles came from them both as Grissom poured the crepe mixture into the frying pan. "This is nice," Sara began. "I miss this…us… you know, being friends."

"I miss us, too… Sara…" He looked deep into her eyes but the words he really wanted to say froze inside of him. Grissom turned the crepe over and let it sauté on the other side a bit. "Grab the plates." He slid the crepe onto one of the plates and put enough mixture in for another one in the frying pan. "Sara," Grissom began, "I'm your supervisor. I shouldn't even be here, if someone found out, it could follow you your entire career. It could ruin it for you."

"My career, since when do you care about that?"

He slid the next crepe onto the other plate. "What do you mean? I worry more about your career than you do." Grissom grabbed the bowl of strawberries and glaze mixture and sat it on the table.

"Oh really," Sara's feelings were heating up, "If you cared so much then why did you—"

The sudden knock on the door left Sara's question hanging. She went to the peephole and saw Greg standing there; she turned and mouthed his name to Grissom. He pointed toward her bedroom and headed down the hall. When she heard the bedroom door close she let Greg in.

TBC


	3. breakfast club

Okay this is my 3rd chapter if it doesn't get put in right this time will someone please email me and let me know what to do? Thanks!

The Suspension – Day One 'The Breakfast Club'

Greg walked through the opened door and took a quick glimpse around. As he entered Sara's apartment his eyes circled to take in his surroundings. "Nice…the colors, everything is so you!"

"Well," Sara smiled and said, "I'll take that as a compliment," she closed the door behind Greg and looked awkwardly towards her bedroom.

"You made me breakfast!" Greg put the case files on the table. Sara removed her jacket from the back of the chair and was about to lay it on the couch when Greg asked, "Or is this for you and Grissom?"

"Grissom?"

"Yeah, where is he? I saw his car parked next to yours when I drove up." Greg looked at the light that was still blinking on Sara's answering machine. "You did listen to my message didn't you?

"Yes Greg, I did." Sara said quickly. "Grissom is in the bathroom washing up. "I, I was just getting ready to fix the last crepe when you knocked." Sara said as she walked to her bedroom. "Just let me put my jacket away.

Greg smiled and sat down at the table. When she opened her bedroom door Sara saw Grissom sitting on her unmade bed, flipping through the pages of the book of bugs that he had given her a few Christmas' ago. He looked up startled, evidently he had not paid attention to Sara speaking as she walked down the hall.

"He saw your car. Give me a few minutes and go flush the toilet. Leave the bathroom door open, so he can hear it." Grissom looked surprised. "I told him you were in the bathroom." She tossed her jacket on the bed and left the door cracked as she walked to the kitchen. Sara put a pat of butter in the frying pan and turned on the eye of the stove, melting the butter and swirling it around to coat the pan. "So let me get this straight Greg, while I'm on suspension you are handling a case by yourself? Sara scraped the bowl of the last of the crepe mixture and poured it into the pan.

"Oh yeah," Greg leaned back in the chair, "Greg's flying solo." They heard the toilet flush and water run from the sink. Greg looked around to see Grissom coming out of the bathroom. He sat upright in the chair as if his father had just scolded him.

Grissom nodded his hello at Greg and turned his attention to what was going on at the stove. Sara was painstakingly turning the crepe so it could finish cooking on the other side, just as she had seen him do earlier. "Damn" he heard her whisper under her breath. The crepe had torn as she flipped it over. Grissom reached for a plate and waited as the crepe sautéed on the other side. He stood close to her and held the plate close under the pan as Sara slid the slightly misshapen crepe onto it. Sara put the last of the fruit mixture on one side and carefully folded the other side over it. Grissom stood so close to her he thought Sara could hear his heart pound; he took the food and sat down across from Greg.

"I'll eat that… you take the good one," she said to him.

Grissom grabbed a fork and eagerly cut into the crepe that Sara had cooked and began eating. He pointed to the untouched crepe on the table. "You better eat," Grissom said between bites, "your food's getting cold."

"This is good Sara," Greg said. "I never knew you could cook."

With each bite he ate, Grissom thought of Sara and how she had put so much care into making it; and with each bite he swallowed he felt… love. "He's right Sara," Grissom said motioning with his fork to his own plate of food, "You did a wonderful job with this."

Sara almost blushed as she started eating her breakfast. After they ate for a while she asked, "So Greg, you said you were going solo huh?"

"Yeah," Greg picked up his folder and took out some papers which he handed to Sara. "Grissom and Sophia are working together on another case, and I have this one."

Sara could feel her soul shatter. "What?" She looked at Grissom with questioning eyes. "Why does the smartest CSI, the head of our team need help from a seasoned CSI and leave a novice to work alone on a case?"

Gil Grissom didn't like it when any of his CSI's questioned the way he handed out assignments, especially when Sara Sidle did it. And Sara knew this, and so did Greg. "All three of us were working on the first case, Sara. Then a few hours later a snatch and grab came along in which the perp ended up wounded and at the downtown clinic." Grissom turned to Greg and with a harsh voice said, "I gave you this case Greg because all you had to do was go over the crime scene and then go to the clinic to interview the guy. Why that is so difficult for you, I just don't understand!"

"There's something different about this crime scene and I did the walk-through and it's off… and the guy in the clinic is just a kid." Greg said.

"And kids can't commit crimes Greg. Is that what you're saying?" Grissom's disappointment in his newest CSI was evident.

Sara, who had began looking through the pictures of the crime scene, piped in. "Maybe what he's saying is this looks too sophisticated for a young kid, almost as if it were kind of staged." She passed the pictures to Grissom. "Greg, how old is the kid?" Sara asked.

"I'd say about 15 or 16."

"Facts Greg, that's what we deal in," said Grissom.

"We deal in the evidence Grissom; you've drilled that into our heads." Sara said with an increasingly irritated tone, "We can't get to the evidence if the crime scene is tainted."

"Excuse me but are you getting angry with me because Greg has to work this case alone? If I remember correctly, he is the one who wanted to become a CSI. And all of my CSI's better be able to handle working alone on a case from time to time."

"Does that include Sophia, or is she exempt?" Sara asked as she watched Grissom take his empty plate and Greg's plate and place them in the sink.

Grissom glared at her for a second then leaned against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. "Okay Greg, Sara seems to want to help you. So let's take a closer look at those pictures."

Greg placed the pictures on the table as Sara continued eating. "You know, Grissom, if you're tired Sara and I can do this."

"I'm fine Greg." Grissom said as he came to the table and leaned over the photos.

Greg looked curiously from Grissom to Sara. He was about to mention that Grissom was beginning to look a little tired but there was a knock at the door that interrupted him. Sara took her last bite of crepe and went to look through the peephole, she smiled. "Well this morning just keeps getting better and better." She said. Hugs were in store for both Nick and Warrick after Sara let them in.

TBC


End file.
